You rarely see the logo of a European piano manufacturer in photos that occasionally accompany music reviews in the New York Times. But it does occasionally happen as shown here with the relevant text. “The three musicians gave committed performances throughout the evening. Mr. Lepauw played with sparkling clarity on the bright-toned Fazioli piano … “

The music world lost a great man on Sunday. Dr. Mark P. Malkovich III, artistic director of the Newport Music Festival, died in a car accident in Minnesota. I also lost a dear friend and mentor. The words of the title of this post were uttered by Leonard Bernstein when he learned of the death of Glenn Gould. They could not be more appropriate. I will leave it to others, at least for now, to extol on his virtues and how far he brought the Newport Festival. I am going to comment on what it means to know somebody who truly is a “being of music”. I first met Mark in 1980 when I went to Newport to maintain the Bosendorfers that were used as concert pianos. Later I went back every year in my role as Artist Services Director for Yamaha as Yamaha had become the official piano of

The new selection center in Wiener Neustadt Austria opened with a performance by Paul Badura-Skoda

Quality is a term that is passed about with great ease in the piano industry. The term itself has a rather benign meaning; “high grade, superiority, excellence”. But what does that mean in the piano world and is there any reason the term high quality should be limited to certain makers? If you’ve been exposed to marketing in the piano industry you realize that just about any construction trait can be justified and explained, even if it seems in direct opposition to other makers. For example, the proponents of the new Phoenix bridge system say that it eliminates the need for down bearing in a piano. However in traditional design down bearing is, next to tuning pin torque, a fundamental requirement. More important, frankly, than 88 keys! Quality is not necessarily the most important trait of a piano. Calling a piano high quality may mean next to nothing especially if

Some of you may have been following my very slow progress toward regaining my RPT status. For those who don’t know, the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) provides structure to the industry of piano maintenance, producing annual national conventions and numerous regional ones that focus on education, training and professional behavior. In an effort to standardize a way of measuring skills, the guild offers RPT status, which stands for Registered Piano Technician. To achieve RPT status, one must pass a series of tests, including a written test, a bench test consisting of 3 parts (grands, uprights and repairs) and a multi part, 4 hour tuning test. I originally achieved RPT status in 1980 but, in a stroke of idiocy, let my membership to the Guild lapse about 10 years ago. Being an Associate has bugged me and I’ve had it in my mind to regain the RPT level if for no

The Frankfurt Messe this year had a separate salon for piano makers, as well as the usual displays of accordion makers, brass and winds and combo gear. Overall the piano makers said business was up.

Steinway Raises $27 Million On March 30, Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. announced that, pursuant to the previously announced subscription agreement, Samick Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. has exercised its option to purchase an additional 1.7 million shares of ordinary common stock at an exercise price of $16 per share. Steinway intends to use the proceeds to retire outstanding debt and for general corporate purposes.

Today is March 31, the last day of my current direct involvement with Bosendorfer. It’s been great, thanks to everybody involved, but I’m itching to move on. Stay tuned.

Click here for a great Slate article, make sure you read to the end.

Steingraeber is found in the bustling city of Bayreuth, which wears its illustrious musical heritage (both Wagner and Liszt are buried there) lightly. Unlike some European makers, it’s hard to miss Steingraeber, being just off Steingraeber Passage. Let’s see, isn’t there a piano company around here someplace? My street cred must be higher, and my timing was right because this time Udo Steingraeber took me around. You cannot imagine a more involved, knowledgeable, enthusiastic proponent for the world of high end pianos and his in particular. The Steingraeber factory also exudes history, being in continuous use for, well I forget the exact number, but a number of years. Steingraeber places GREAT emphasis on the perfect mating between inner and outer rim. They go so far as to create the outer rim, using the exact inner rim that will be on the same piano, as a mold. Here 2 inner and